The Curious Adventures of One Hope Winchester
by Threelittleclouds
Summary: Hope Mary Winchester, child of Melinoe, hunter extraordinaire and all-round badass, is the one mortal link between two worlds. That makes her a pantheon hopper and that makes her dangerous. Also, Hope's got a best frind you probably don't want to mess with, so don't try anything.
1. Prologue

Prologue

When he heard the banging on the door, Bobby grabbed his gun and peered through the peephole.

John Winchester. Holding a damn baby.

He sighed and opened the door. "Who's the kid? Please tell me it's not yours." "She was just…there. I don't even remember her mom. Bobby, I didn't know what to do with her-

"Okay. Come in and we'll have a drink and you can tell me."

The story was setting alarm bells off straight away. The baby, who had been named Hope Mary Winchester, had shown up two days before outside John's motel room. There had been note, which read as follows:

_Dear John,_

_I doubt you remember me. It was a terrible mistake to talk to you, but I do not believe I had a choice._

_This is our daughter. I can't look after her so I hope you will. I've taken the liberty of giving her a first name, Hope. You can change it if you want, but I want her to be a ray of hope in the darkness of her world._

_-Melinoe _

Yep, that stank of half-blood. John was suspicious too, but the child had appeared to be entirely human and normal, so he'd taken her to the nearest hospital and explained the situation.

And then he'd driven straight to Bobby's.

"There was another note, too. For the kid." He handed Bobby a folded piece of paper.

"What do you want me to do with it?"

John sighed. "I don't want the boys to know about her, Bobby. I'm a little ashamed. I don't suppose you'd…"

Bobby looked down at Hope Winchester, who stared back with a blue-green gaze. If she was indeed a demigod (and wasn't Melinoe the name of some minor goddess?), better he keep an eye on her than John.

He'd always been able to see through the Mist. A demigod, a child of Athena, had eventually explained it to him and given him a Celestial Bronze dagger just in case.

When John had left, he got it out and carefully sliced a line into her arm. She howled, of course, but Hope Mary Winchester was most definitely a demigod.

Damn it.

When he later looked up Melinoe, he almost laughed out loud at the irony. A ghost goddess and a ghost hunter, who'd have thought it?

Hope eventually fell asleep, but only once he'd given her formula from a box he'd been forced to go and buy. She was adorable, it had to be said. She already had a thick mess of almost black hair and her eyes shifted shade almost every other minute. He figured that the hair was her mother's, but the eyes were just like Sam's.

"Bobby Singer, right?"

He grabbed a gun and leveled it at the woman standing in front of him, placing himself firmly between the intruder and Hope.

"Cool it, Mr. Singer. My name is Melinoe and that's my kid over there."

Bobby lowered the gun a little. "Lady, you better not have done this on purpose."

She sighed. "I get the feeling she had to be born, but people are so busy worrying about that son of Poseidon no one's really noticed her yet. They will, though, Mr. Singer. I don't know about your side, but the Olympians will notice her. She's a natural-born pantheon hopper, and those only crop up every couple of centuries."

"What in the hell is a pantheon hopper?"

"Someone born on two sides of the fence, as it were. That kid…she isn't supposed to exist. She'll be persecuted all her life, and I'm sorry."

"You think it's one of your prophecies?"

She looked the most miserable Bobby had ever seen a goddess look, but she answered "I guess so. Mr. Singer, you have to tell her. It's the only way she'll have a chance of scraping by and maybe getting to be an adult. It's not as though she gets a normal life. Don't let her have any illusions of humanity."

Bobby nodded.

Seven years later, Hope slammed the door behind her and hollered that she was home.

Then, she noticed the two extra guys and the demon in the devils' trap.

"Um. Hi?"

The demon let out a breathy laugh. "That isn't-". She started, but Bobby threw a bucket of holy water over her, which shut her up.

Bobby glanced over and said "Hope. Room. Now.

"But, Bobby-"

"Your room, Hope!"

She rolled her eyes and stomped off into her room.

It was a nice room. It had some photos and a couple knives lying on her table and a stash of food under the bed that she knew Bobby had found a long time ago. She had a room, too, an old thing with an iron frame.

She loved her room, but there was no way in Hell she was missing a demon thing. No, sir. Hope had never even seen a demon before, let alone a proper exorcism. Neither her dad nor Bobby had ever let her near one.

Hope grabbed a bottle of holy water, just in case, and a knife off the table.

She edged out the door and down the hall. The taller of the two other men, who were presumably hunters, had started reading an exorcism.

It was the coolest thing Hope had ever seen, excluding that time some of the big boys from the high school had set fire to Mr. Weinberg's store and the fire fighters had come with their truck to put it out.

Hope watched, enraptured at how awesome the entire situation was and thus didn't notice when one of the guys, the shorter one, saw her.

"Hope, right?"

She felt the panic set into her face for a second, but being scared wouldn't help anyone, so she just nodded.

"I'm Dean. You all right?"

"I just wanted to watch… I've never seen an exorcism before…"

The man, Dean, crouched down to her level. "You a hunter's kid?"

Hope nodded.

"That holy water you got there?

"It was in case the demon got out of the trap. Bobby told me it burns them. I don't know why; though. What's so holy about it?"

He looked her straight in the eyes. "I have no idea. Now, how 'bout you go back before Bobby sees you, huh?"

AN: Hey everyone! No idea if this was any good or not, but please review! This prologue was definitely set more in SPN than PJO, but fear not! There'll be plenty of CHB action too

-threelittleclouds


	2. Chapter One

Chapter One

So, Hope was pretty certain something was up in Drew, which was barely five miles from Sioux Falls. She was thinking werewolf, given that all the vics' hearts were missing and she wasn't entirely stupid.

Normally, Bobby would have got someone to deal with it, or dealt with is himself. Problem was, Bobby was off helping some newbie hunter with his case.

Hope didn't know if anyone was in the area and the cycle was coming up, which would only mean more bodies.

Anyway, it was the middle of July, and it wasn't as if she had anything better to do.

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The ten-year-old packed silver bullets, cash and some clothes, along with a few other weapons just in case. The money was important. In her experience, motel and diner owners didn't care how young you were if you had money, and Hope looked older than she was, in any case.

She scribbled a note to Bobby, figuring that she was already screwed when she got back so there was no reason to make it any worse, and grabbed her keys.

Outside, she contemplated whether to just cycle. Five miles would be easy for her to ride and it would cause fewer questions.

Also, her bike was her baby. It was pretty badass-looking, too, with blue and silver stripes, and it had twelve gears.

Hope hefted her rucksack up onto her shoulders, testing the weight, and hopped on the bike.

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When she rolled into Drew forty-five minutes later, she noticed a '67 Impala that looked suspiciously like her dad's, but wrote it off as a coincidence. After all, he'd been dead for a couple years by then.

Her first plan of action was to see if there were any abandoned buildings she could hide out in, which would be less stressful than a motel. Hope hated talking to random people like that: receptionists, shop owners, anyone behind a desk she was expected to give money to, really.

She turned the corner just before Sam and Dean Winchester, who happened to be her half-brothers, could see her.

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Good God, Hope was glad she had short hair. Her father had always insisted that it be as short as most of her male peers', which came in handy for disguises and hot weather, not to mention safety reasons. Nobody would ever have to worry about her hair getting caught on something in the middle of a fight.

As a plus, the bats in the deserted warehouse she'd set up shop in were clearly not going to get caught in her hair like they got caught in the pathetic 'heroines' in those lame and usually totally inaccurate horror movies hair.

After a little snooping, she was reasonably sure the werewolf was a man named Joseph Foreman. Mr. Foreman had been found unconscious at the scene of one of the murders the previous month. He'd been taken in for questioning, but released without charge. That was good enough for Hope.

She loaded her gun full of silver bullets, discovered a silver knife in her rucksack that she must have left in there after that last shapeshifter hunt, and ate a protein bar for nourishment, before setting out.

It was only five blocks to Joseph Foreman's house, so she walked. As she was arriving, she saw two vaguely familiar guys in suits walk out of the house.

She racked her brains for a second and recalled that they were the men who'd exorcised that demon in the front room when she was seven.

"Hi," she started awkwardly.

The taller dude (she never had caught his name) stared at her, but Dean registered her face and asked "Hope?"

"Yeah. I was just going to ask Mr. Foreman a few friendly questions. You know, seeing as there's a werewolf about."

"Wait, who are you exactly?" Asked the tall guy.

"Uh, well, my name's Hope Winchester-"

Her sentence was cut off by a barrage of _what_ and _excuse me _and she had to yell to be understood.

"What's so weird 'bout that?"

"You're sure?"

Hope raised an eyebrow "I'm pretty sure I know my own name, yeah. If you want any more, my middle name's Mary."

"Uh, Hope? Could you give us a minute?" asked Dean. Hope shrugged.

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"You think she's telling the truth?" demanded Sam.

Dean considered, then muttered "Well, she does kinda look like you, man. If you were a ten-year-old girl, that is."

"So what do we do about it? She obviously has no idea who we are, unless she's the best actress in the world."

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It doesn't take very long for an ADHD ten-year-old to get bored, so Hope eventually enquired, in the most sarcastic voice possible, the one she'd learnt off Bobby "So, will I ever learn why stating my name was a crime against humanity? Really, the suspense is killing me."

Dean sighed and turned to her. "What do you know about your family?"

Hope looked at him like he was crazy, but shrugged and answered "Not much. My dad's name was John, but he bit it a while back now. We didn't have a great relationship, to say the least. Hated each other's guts. Anyway, some demon got him, and that was that. I've never met my mom. I know her name, but I've never really had any particular desire to meet the woman who abandoned me."

Weirdly, thunder rumbled at that exact moment. Dean saw a flash of what looked like pure terror cross the kid, his _little sister_'s face, but she covered it so quickly he wondered if he'd just imagined it.

"Okay, Hope. This is going to sound a little weird, but my name's Dean Winchester and this is my brother Sam. If what you're saying is true, we're your half-brothers."

She answered at the same time as Sam grabbed him and half-yelled "Dean! Are you crazy?" but he was pretty sure she'd said something along the lines of _and I'm a straight-A student. _

"Sam, do you really think she's lying? Look at her, man!"

Hope started yelling. "Okay! You know what? I'm not lying! Now, do we or do we not have actual tests we can do to prove that everyone here is what they say they are?"

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Hope wasn't, generally, a liar. She was also fully aware that as a demigod, a lot of hunters would see her as a monster, a freak to be murdered. Hope had been to Camp Half-Blood for a couple weeks, but she'd ditched the place after a few, uh, screaming matches between her and Chiron, who had a thing against pantheon hoppers. However, she'd stayed long enough to pick up a _lot _of incriminating evidence. Like her sword, for instance.

Fortunately, hunters didn't test for godly ancestry. She came up as human after swigging from her flask of holy water (some hunters had an arsenal in their cars, she had the Rucksack of Doom.). None of them were shapeshifter, either.

"Okay, you got the car. God, I missed this car. Hey, did you guys ever find the H.M.W. I scratched in there? Hope Mary Winchester, see. Dad yelled at me for like an hour, but whatever."

"Now she reminds me of you even more." Whispered Dean to his brother.

They managed to fit Hope's bike in the trunk, after the brothers had confirmed that Joseph Foreman had bene the werewolf and was now a corpse.

"I don't like that thing being in my car!" Grumbled Dean for maybe the fifth time, to which Hope snapped that she didn't exactly have a license and she had to get around somehow, right?

They drove for a while, and they all picked up some more facts about each other. Sam and Dean learned that Hope had ADHD and dyslexia, she discovered some stuff about them, and she made a lame joke about her third of July birthday ("I didn't want to wait for the fireworks, apparently".).

Hope was definitely a mix of both of them in temperament, a smartass like Dean for sure, but with a serious side that resembled Sam's. Unique to her, however, was her biting intelligence.

"You're going to die, aren't you?" She asked Dean.

"What? How'd you…"

"I'm good at working stuff out, I guess. Sorry. And he's pissed at you, so I'm guessing you did something dumb?"

"You don't know me."

"No, I don't. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have brought it up."

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Hope was grounded for a week for running off to shoot a werewolf without asking. She flounced off into her room, and Bobby explained the situation he'd been in ten years before when he'd effectively adopted her minus the demigod stuff.

So, that was when the first piece of the puzzle fell into place. The Winchester siblings had met.

AN: I just want to thank PrincessMagic for her follow and review and LacyMarie97 for her follow and favourite. You guys are amazing! Please tell me what you think of this chapter!


	3. Chapter Two

Chapter Two

Hope returned home one day in late September to find her Sam, Dean and Bobby fighting off several ghosts.

He second she stepped in the door, the ghosts stopped attacking and bowed to her, which was awkward and incriminating. There was one woman with blonde hair, two little girls, a larger guy with frizzy hair and a black man. Hope immediately noticed the Mark of the Witness on all their hands and mentally swore.

"Uh, hi. Get outta here, ghosts, please."

The ghosts flickered and disappeared.

"What the hell was that?" Dean bellowed.

Hope took an instinctive step back, and answered "That was me saving your asses from the Witnesses."

"No, the 'get outta here' thing and the frigging bowing!"

"If you really want to know, my mom's a Greek ghost goddess. There are a few perks."

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Hope leant against the dirty wall of the house she'd lived in all her life and explained.

"My mom's Melinoe. She's a minor Greek goddess, the goddess of ghosts. Which is more than a little ironic, when you think about dad's day job. We're called demigods, or half-bloods."

"There are more of you?" Sam asked, sounded a little panicked. Hope smirked. "Around a hundred at camp, and Zeus knows how many others who don't know."

"There's a camp for demigods?"

Hope nodded "Yeah. Camp Half-Blood. You know all the old myths? Medusa, the Minotaur? All true, and they hate demigods. We spend our lives fighting these things, and camp's the only safe place. The borders keep out the monsters and the mortals. The normal humans like you guys." She added at her brothers' looks of confusion.

"Do you kill people?" Demanded Dean. Hope suddenly thought that he looked much sadder than the last time she'd seen him. She knew he'd been to Hell and apparently an angel had pulled him out. Hope wasn't sure what to make of that, but she wouldn't be that surprised if it turned out to be true.

"Nope. We're basically like normal people, except we sometimes have powers, it depends on your parent. I can control ghosts because of my mom, but my friend Emma can't do anything except be lucky. She's a child of Tyche, the luck goddess. And we're often dyslexic or ADHD, usually both. I'm both. I can read Ancient Greek, though, and I have epic reflexes in a fight."

"ADHD… that's attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, right? And dyslexia is when you have trouble reading or writing." Sam said.

"Yeah. My grades are abysmal, especially in English. Look, guys, I don't hurt anyone, neither does anybody else I know at camp. I'm just a pretty normal eleven-year-old girl who happens to be both a hunter and a demigod, which sucks, and I am going to die so young, but there is nothing wrong or monstrous about me."

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Later, when Castiel appeared to Dean, he was interrupted by a 5"2 figure (Hope was obviously continuing the family tradition of immense height) wearing a massive T-shirt commemorating the tenth anniversary of the Sioux Falls Annual Baking Competition that had been purchased with the exact purpose of sleeping in it. Hope's short hair was flat on one side and her eyes were bleary, but her voice was firm as she demanded "Who in Hades are you, then?"

The angel considered her. This then was Hope Winchester, the third component of God's plan. Her soul had a half-blood's streak of gold, but the rest was almost completely righteous white.

"I am Castiel. You're Hope Winchester."

She raised an eyebrow "That would indeed be me, yes."

"Go back to sleep, Hope." Dean interrupted.

Hope folded her arms over her chest. "Yeah, that's so happening."

Castiel sighed. This half-blood, essential as she was, was just as irritating as her eldest half-brother, and he hadn't been ordered to converse with her, only about her. He strode over and placed two fingers to her forehead, after which she fell down, completely unconscious.

"What the hell?" Dean exclaimed.

"She's just unconscious. Dean, when you and your brother leave this place, you have to take her with you. She's important."

"How is she important? She's, what, eleven?""

"As I believe she has said on many occasions, age is relative. I would suggest you put her to bed." Castiel answered, and vanished.

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Hope was light enough, despite being what could definitely be described as tall. Dean found her room easily enough and carefully placed her in bed. He looked at a few of the photos on her walls, noticing a few recurring people, most noticeably a mixed-race girl of about Hope's age. In one photo, they were wearing orange T-shirts with the words 'Camp Half-Blood' written on them. Hope had an immense sword strapped on her back, with two straps crisscrossing her chest.

The photos were of smiling, happy Hope and the girl who was presumably Emma, but the grins hid worry, for sure. In the background, teenagers were strapping on armour, which was never a good thing.

He noticed the sword leaning in a scabbard in a corner, but it was as though someone _wanted _him to see it, rather than as if it was actually meant to be seen. He remembered Hope explaining about the Mist when he'd asked why nobody noticed a bunch of children fighting monsters. Dean couldn't help but wonder whether somebody was allowing him to see it through the Mist so that he could understand her world a little better.

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In the morning, Hope awoke only to discover she was apparently being kidnapped under the orders of an angel. Needless to say, she, Sam and Bobby all protested violently, using the respective argument that: 1) she didn't want to be abducted, 2) it was too dangerous and 3) something along the lines of "Hell no!" Nobody brought up school, however, as it was obvious to all that for Hope there really _wasn't _much point in going. Hope secretly thanked all the gods, as school had never been her strong point.

However, the angel's vote eventually won, and Hope flounced off to grab clothes and other personal effects, which she shoved in a bag, all the while wondering _why_ exactly she was so important. At camp she was just another Hermes reject, a minor kid with a massive sword. To other hunters, she was an impertinent little kid. How could it be that an _angel _had said that she was important? She was just Hope Winchester.

Had to be something, though, right?

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She was still pondering that when she climbed into the back of her dad's old car which felt blissfully familiar, and left her home. Little did she know that when she next lived in Sioux Falls, she'd be married.

AN: Hey everybody! Thanks for all your lovely reviews, especially PrincessMagic. You rock.

In this chapter, we have a little more demigod action. I really have no idea how to write Hope at CHB. All I can figure is that she and Chiron would have a definite antipathy towards each other. If anyone has any ideas, please tell me!

-threelittleclouds


	4. Chapter Three

Chapter Three

Hope had been hanging with her brothers for six months when she got the call.

It was eight, and they were heading out to do some research at a local library, when Hope, the demigod in the room, got an Iris-message.

She accepted the message and saw Chiron's grim face staring out at her, which was more than a little awkward with the two mortals in the room. It had been determined that both Sam and Dean had been granted the ability to see through the Mist. Nobody knew _who_ exactly had done this, but it came in handy.

"Chiron! How lovely to see you." She drawled in fluent sarcasm. "What do you want? Last time we spoke I, uh, actually broke your desk. Guys, this is Chiron. He hates me for reasons unknown to all except himself, and I couldn't be called his biggest fan."

"Kronos has risen! We need to know if he's got to any minor demigods like you." Chiron announced.

"Because obviously I would tell you if I was working for Kronos, which I'm really not. Anyway, we have to go figure out some stuff, like how to stop these seals breaking and letting Satan out of Hell. Adios. Tell Emma hi for me."

She cut off the Iris-Message with a wave of her hand. "All joking aside, I need to get to camp. I have a few suspicions about this Kronos business."

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Dean had never been to Camp Half-Blood before. He'd seen Hope fight off an assortment of monsters ranging from the Hydra to a Cyclops, but this… this was bordering on totally terrifying.

Hope passed the border, being a half-blood, but she had to grant him and Sam permission to enter. The atmosphere in the camp was tense and only made worse by their presence. Even Emma, who had proved to be a smart and lively child, much in Hope's own vein, looked at them with deep suspicion.

A brutish-looking girl sporting armour and a spear yelled out "What's with the mortals, Underworld freak?"

Dean was prepared to bash her head in for that, but Hope managed it well enough, answering "I'd tell you, but I don't think you have enough brain cells to understand the answer, Clarisse."

Several other comments in this vein were defused by a cheerful answer from Emma, who was clearly less easy to provoke.

Emma Carlisle was of average height and build, with skin the precise colour of chocolate milk and a mane of dark ringlets that actually suited her better than straight hair.

"Hope, you know I'm not one to judge, but are you sure it was a good idea to let them in? People are already spooked, you don't need to act even more suspicious than you already do. For Tyche's sake, Hope, half the Athena cabin think you're a government spy!"

"Aren't they supposed to be smart? Do I look like a government spy? Although I suppose that's kinda a requirement for a spy."

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They entered a large house, which the two demigods referred to as the Big House and knocked on a door marked "Chiron's Office".

Sam supposed that this was the office of the guy who'd called Hope. They hadn't really seemed to be on the best of terms, but his sister wasn't a particularly agreeable person, especially if she got harassed like that a lot. Maybe 'Underworld freak' wasn't the worst insult he could think of, but it had to hurt, and Hope was only eleven, even if she acted a lot older.

The door opened to a man in a wheelchair who immediately asked why he and Dean were here. Hope performed several expert eye-rolls and snarky comments before they got to the actual point.

"You might have heard about how we're trying to stop Lucifer from busting out of his cage? Anyway, I figured that Kronos getting out of his coffin might be related. Maybe they're allying, I don't know, but there is no such thing as a coincidence."

Sam agreed with that.

Chiron seemed to be mulling this over, which gave Sam an opportunity to see what he could make of him. He seemed like a regular guy in a wheelchair, with salt-and-pepper hair and a tweed jacket, but Chiron was the name of a centaur, a trainer of heroes, and he had to ask "Are you the Chiron from the myths? The centaur?"

He answered to the affirmative, and resumed his thinking. Sam was trying to figure out the logistics of that, but eventually gave up, as no logical answers were forthcoming.

After about five minutes, a conch horn sounded and Emma asked "So, uh, can we go eat? I'm kinda hungry."

Chiron said they could, and that he would come too. He told Sam and Dean that they could sit at the Hermes table with their sister and Emma, and Sam remembered Hope grouching about having to squash into the Hermes cabin with, as she put it, the rest of Olympus' rejects.

Sure enough, an argument broke out about five minutes into dinner, which began with Chiron asking the Hermes table to please settle down. That was difficult, seeing as there was nowhere near enough space for everyone there, and the two guests weren't making anyone particularly happy.

Anyway, a large Hermes demigod answered that "Maybe if we didn't have to put up with all these little unwanted freaks, we wouldn't be so loud!"

Hope straightened up like she'd been electrified and spat back "You think we choose to be stuck in your damn cabin?"

The brute looked Hope straight in the eyes and answered "I don't think you should even be here."

And everything went to Hell. Unclaimed and minor demigods all drew an assortment of weapons there and then and practically lunged at him. Both Emma and Hope had plunged into the melee with gay abandon, brandishing a short sword and a massive mediaeval broadsword respectively. Sam was pretty sure he heard a cry of "You son of a bitch!" in what sounded like his sister's voice.

The battle was pretty one-sided, too. Both Sam and his brother were careful to stay out of it, although they were firmly on Hope's side, and apparently most of the cabin felt the same way, even most of the children of Hermes.

It was quickly put an end to when Chiron bellowed out "Everyone sit back down!"

Sam watched as people untangled and put away their weapons, Hope sliding the massive sword into a sheath on her back.

"Ms Winchester, Mr Robben, you will come to my office immediately after dinner. We are all servants of the gods here and I will not tolerate petty infighting."

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In Chiron's office, _again_, Hope listened as he gave both of them the punishment of a month of washing up. To her surprise, he dismissed Daniel Robben and told her he had something to say to her.

"Hope, I have known a few pantheon hoppers in my time, and you all seem to have the same personality type. You're all easily provoked, hot-tempered and you've all had that same rebellious streak, to varying degrees."

Hope raised an eyebrow "So you're telling me I have a problem with authority? I'd noticed, thanks."

"No, I'm saying you have to calm down. You're _important_, Hope, and you can't do what you're supposed to do if you keep acting on base instinct."

Hope felt the aforementioned easily provoked hot temper flare and struggled to not repeat the Desk Incident. "I ain't going to deny anything you just said, but one thing's for fairly sure. I don't like sinister plans that talk vaguely of stopping Apocalypses, with no actual detail provided. I don't like cryptic prophecies. I don't like gods or angels, and I am going to do my damn job and do the best I can to stop people dying. I should never have come to your camp, and I'm leaving. Oh? And you know something? I used to like my life, before I met you."

The preteen hunter-slash-demigod swirled out of the room with her usual verve and managed to make it to Thalia's tree before she started crying.

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I'm too hard on Hope, I know. She's younger than I am, and she's stuck in some weird plan that she don't like. But whatever. Anyway, please tell me what you think and thanks to Shinigamidemidragonslayer99 (that took me some time!) for their follow and favourite of both the story and myself and Guest and jody black (guest) for their reviews. jody, I'll try to be more descriptive, but I genuinely hate writing all that adjective-y stuff and I like to leave stuff to the reader's imagination. Also, happy new year to you all!

-threelittleclouds


	5. Chapter Four

Chapter Four

If someone had asked Hope what she thought of her life, she'd have said that it was okay. It really was. Sure, life-or-death situations could be described as every Friday night with Hope, but she was used to that.

She didn't understand Sam's desire to be normal. She loved being Hope Winchester the risk-taking pantheon hopper, she loved a good fight now and then and she even liked the burn of her muscles when she used her massive sword.

That sword had a story, to be sure. It had been made by a mediaeval demigod, a son of Athena, to match the ones mortal knights used. As a result, it had languished in the Athena cabin's weapon shed for decades until a ten-year-old Hope had managed to pick it up, much to the Athena camper with her's shock. She'd smiled and asked if she could keep it. It was unconventional, like her.

She'd named it Excalibur 2.0.

It was Celestial Bronze, of course, almost four feet long and heavy with it, with a grip that seemed to belong in her folded hands. People stared, but Hope was used to stares.

Lying awake in bed in their grotty motel room, she felt the soft rays of the sun ticle the back of her neck, and decided it was probably time to get up.

Hope rolled out of bed and fumbled her way over to the sink. The dirty mirror showed her that her hair was flat on one side, so she ran her hand through it and then, when that failed, wet it a little. It was going to have to do. She had a fading bruise on one cheek from a demon a couple of days back, but otherwise she seemed okay.

She decided to take advantage of the fact her brothers were still fast asleep and get dressed. She pulled on a T-shirt with the words 'Heavily armed and in a bad mood' emblazoned across the front; She'd made it at a party she'd been invited to a week before the incident with the Witnesses, and thought the mother of the host might have been a little worried about her, as she'd been asked to see a counsellor.

Over said shirt she put on a checked red one, leaving it unbuttoned, and pulled on a pair of jeans.

There.

She decided to spend the time between the present and her brothers awakening by checking the salt lines, which turned out to be perfectly undisturbed, then resigned herself to waiting, as the words still seemed to be having a field trip racing around the page when she tried to read.

Fortunately for her, someone knocked at the door after five minutes of resisting the urge to wake someone up.

Hope grabbed her handgun (just in case), and cracked open the door. It was Ruby.

She wasn't sure what to think of Ruby, but she was giving her the benefit of the doubt for the time being. Hope had better stuff to do than discriminate.

"Sam's asleep, but you can come in if you want."

"No I'm not…"came Sam's sleepy voice. "Hope?" He seemed to wake up a little and said "Oh, hey, Ruby."

"So what's up seal-wise? I'm guessing this ain't a social call."

The demon and Sam exchanged a look that Hope registered, almost unconsciously, as wrong. In the depths of her subconscious, another piece fell into place. The piece read "Ruby and Sam hang out alone", or would have was it more than a metaphor.

"A couple more have been broken. There aren't that many left."

Dean, who had since risen, swore simultaneously with his younger sister.

"We got any idea which ones are likely to be attempted next? I found a list of seals, got attacked by a Greek hellhound for my troubles, but we don't know all the broken ones and there are so many different combinations. It's pretty random. I don't know what God or whoever was thinking when they built the Cage. This is ridiculous."

She extracted the printed list, which took up several pages that were somewhat bloodstained. "Hellhound got me on my arm," Hope explained. "I verified all these, by the way. They're the right ones.

Ruby took the list. "Do you have a pen?" She asked, and Hope presented her with a ballpoint.

It took several minutes for Hope to get fidgety and she announced that she was going to get breakfast and did anyone want anything?

She actually managed to get Dean's bacon and eggs, Sam's fruit salad and her own pancakes before she was accosted.

"What do you want? I don't want the food to get cold," she told Castiel and Uriel who apparently thought it appropriate to appear right in front of her while she was balancing both hot beverages and lukewarm, decent-smelling food.

"The food is of no importance," announced Castiel. Hope started to protest, but he continued. "What so you suspect? We have been told you're doubting us"

The demigod stiffened. "First off, it's a basic fact of my personality that I suspect everyone. You're not getting any special treatment. Also, I don't like this, and since when do I trust you? Like I just said, I suspect everybody. I'm not your slave. I can doubt all I want, and you're not exactly helping to put my doubts at rest. This is all too vague for my liking. Now, if you don't mind, I have breakfast to deliver, and then eat."

She attempted to step round the two angels, succeeded, to her slight surprise, and strode back to the motel. Hope decided not to mention the encounter to her brothers or Ruby.

She briefly thought of the trench-coated angel. He'd been the first person to ever indicate she was important directly, rather than sidestepping it with terms such as 'not an accident'. She'd liked him for that, even if he was clearly a proud member of the God Squad and she disliked them on principle.

She entered the motel room, where three figures were still poring over the bloody list and a copy of Revelations.

Hope deposed breakfast and coffee, grabbed her pancakes and latte, and decided that, yeah, life was definitely okay.

00000

Not much happens in this chapter, I know, but I had writer's block for some of it and I wanted to have a chapter showing more of Hope's routine and personality.

Also, I had something to tell you guys: I won't be including any episode chapters except season finales and maybe first episodes, UNLESS YOU ASK ME TO! Oh, yeah, I'm taking suggestions. If you have an episode you want to see Hopeified, pray review or PM me and tell me!

I tried description at the beginning of this chapter, and it's dam hard. I've always been a dialogue person. I have entire one-shots of the character talking about their feelings. It's ridiculous. However; I hope (lol) it was okay.

REVIEW? I MIGHT LOVE YOU FOREVER, IT DEPENDS

-threelittleclouds


	6. Chapter Five

Chapter Five

Hope leant against the wall of the angels' weird room and thought aloud.

"Okay, so, it's kinda starting to make sense now. The reason you guys got Dean out of Hell was something related to the Apocalypse, but that's all suspiciously vague. As is the actual reason you told him to take me with them, so I'm going to assume they're connected. I've been called important by a lot of people, and it usually just means different, which in my world means someone prophesised it at some point. So somebody at some point, God or whoever, decided that there should be a Hope Winchester. Here I am, so that one came true."

She started pacing. "What I don't know is why, and nobody's let that slip, so, moving on: Sam. Okay, what do I know? He's drinking demon blood, which is both wrong and unsanitary, and Ruby's encouraging him and probably also screwing him to get what she wants. I'm not even going to attempt to describe how gross that is. I mean, ew. Anyway, apparently you guys aren't bothered about that. Or… Oh, crap. You want this. You want Sam to kill Lilith with his creepy demon powers or whatever, but you could just do that yourselves, couldn't you? I mean, I can kill a demon. I do it all the time."

Hope stopped still. "That means it's predestined that Sam kills Lilith. Oh, I am so stupid! Damn it, I should have thought. And Ruby! You could kill her too, she's nowhere near as powerful as Lilith. The only reason not to kill her would be that she's doing exactly what you want, which is whipping my brother up into a demon blood frenzy and getting him to gank Lilith with the aforementioned demon powers. But why? Oh. Oh, no."

The conclusion she'd come to was bad. Very bad. Like, we're-all-gonna-die bad.

"It only really fits if you look at it from the other side. Lilith wants Lucifer out and about, and only she can break the final seal. Oh, I know an omitted truth when I see one, and this reeks. So, Dean breaks the first seal in Hell, right? Then eventually, you haul him out of there, and the dominoes fall, so to speak. He finds Bobby, then Sam, and then when the Witnesses show up you knew I'd stop them, because you planned all this, or someone did. The seal's broken, none of you precious pawns are dead, and one Hopie Winchester hops on the family wagon. Or Impala. Hell, I don't know what's so important about us, but pantheon hoppers are never, ever random. I do know that, at least."

She resumed pacing, walking around a table of her favourite food that she wouldn't eat because she had her pride, even if she was stuck in here.

"All those seals, and you haven't stopped any from breaking, because you want them to break. You also want Sam to kill Lilith, which suggests that killing her is the final seal, right? If she dies, Lucifer pops his box and your guy Michael and him have a bitch fight that destroys the entire planet, which is apparently your lifelong dreams."

A voice from behind her said "I had to spell it out to your brother, but apparently you're a little more perceptive."

She spun around, grabbing an angel statue that was heavy enough to definitely hurt, but sighed at the sight of the speaker. "Zachariah."

"How in the hell does a twelve-year-old girl work it out before a grown man?"

She smirked "I'm perceptive, and I trust most people about as far as I could throw a truck. So, you guys are after the Apocalypse, I'm stuck in this room, and everyone's going to die. Why?"

Of course, she knew why. God had said it would happen, the angels thought they were doing the right thing and she could have told Sam about Lilith, but she needed a distraction, and she could talk.

She leant against a wall and prayed to Zeus she remembered the sigil and that her demigod blood was human enough to work.

Fortunately for all concerned, Zachariah was banished by someone else before she even had the chance.

"Cas? Dean? What the hell?" Hope yelled.

"The angels want the Apocalypse to happen and Lilith's the final seal!" Dean answered.

"Yeah, I figured that out, thanks. We have to stop it."

Cas looked slightly impressed. "You worked out the plan?"

"Yeah. Zachariah was mostly just gloating. I'd have been fine. Anyway, we need to get out of here."

00000

"Hope." Chuck said. The ground was shaking, but she turned round. "I'm sorry."

"Not your fault."

00000

Hope had always been good at sport at school. Her legs were both long and well-used, and she was fast as all Hell.

Her boots thudded against the stone floor of the convent, her jacket flapping behind her as she sprinted towards the door.

Mr. Jones, her old gym teacher, had been the first person to admire Hope's running. She was better at sprinting, but cross-country was easy enough after her dad's brutal training. Her heart rate soared, adrenaline pounding through her veins, and she was just fast enough to dive through the door before Ruby slammed it shut.

Lilith was lying in front of the altar, still possessing the comely dental hygienist, but she was slammed against the wall before she could grab Sam.

Hope's adrenaline rush dissipated, and her head cleared.

Her chest heaved, but she took a breath.

She was fast, sure, but she wasn't fast enough to stop anything.

Lilith convulsed, her body flashing orange, revealing her ribs. Hope wasn't sure whether Sam even knew she was there. She tried to yell, but it was too late.

Lilith's blood trickled across the floor, forming a circle with little spikes pointing inwards.

Ruby released Hope, and she fell to the floor. She hauled herself up and Sam finally noticed her.

"Hope?" He asked, but she ignored him, choosing to spit at Ruby.

"Really, Hopie? That's it?"

In response, Hope released a torrent of her filthiest vocabulary, most of which arose from living in a house full of usually-drunk hunters for the majority of her life.

Dean, who had entered by then, looked mildly impressed for a second, but drew the demon knife. Ruby was talking to Sam, gloating about how "awesome" she was, and thus didn't notice him until Sam grabbed her, spun her around, and let Dean stab her in the stomach.

Hope ran over to the now-glowing circle thing, and prayed. There wasn't really anything else se could do. Hope's talents lay in ghosts, not in stopping archangels from rising.

"Hope! Hope, come on, we have to get out of here!" Dean had grabbed her, and she started moving, but the door was closed.

All she could think was _How did I not see this sooner?_

0000000

AND IT'S THE APOCALYPSE! YAY!

Okay, so I know that literally three chapters for an entire season is really short, but that's because I basically stuck to canon the entire time and I've never seen the point in just basically recounting an entire episode with your OC slotted in. I think it's really boring and slightly pointless. Yes, we realise your lovely character was present. We don't really need to know that they made a snarky comment after the canon character did something.

Also, I've realised that now I'm going to be diverging from canon a little more, I am going to do episode chapters, just Hope will probably be separated from Sam and Dean. For instance, I am so doing Changing Channels and Hammer of the Gods. I mean, Hope-the-demigod + pagan gods will be frick awesome.

CHB will be featuring more prominently soon, what with Kronos attacking Manhattan at the same time as Luci being Luci and destroying crap. (I've decided the Second Titan War and the Apocalypse happen at the same time, so prepare for yelling and a lot of crying. And badassery.)

-threelittleclouds


	7. Chapter Six

DISCLAIMER: NO, I DO NOT OWN PERCY JACKSONOR SUPERNATURAL. IF I DID, NOTHING WOULD EVER HAPPEN OTHER THAN HUGS AND HAPPINESS FOR ALL CONCERNED. EVEN GAIA AND, LIKE, AZAZEL OR WHOEVER IS THE WORST VILLAIN IN SUPERNATURAL.

Chapter Six

Hope had never really enjoyed conflict. Sure, a good fight now and then could be fun, but this whole oh-I-believe-the-Apocalypse-is-all-my-fault-I'm-leaving crap was about a million miles out of her comfort zone.

She sat in silence as Sam and Dean did their whole emotional conversation thing (again, not her area of expertise), until Sam said she should go with Dean.

"I'm not going anywhere with either of you, do you hear me? I'll go to camp, or home to South Dakota."

"Why not?" Sam asked and she shrugged.

"Seems way too much like favouritism to me. Not to mention that I don't get why everyone's blaming you for Lucifer getting out. I mean, Dean broke the first seal, I could have mentioned that I was pretty sure something was up with the angels, Ruby and said angels were manipulating you into position. All you did was top it all off by killing Lilith."

There. She'd said it.

Several seconds of stunned staring ensued and she lifted an eyebrow. "I thought free will was kinda our thing. Doesn't that include freedom of speech?"

"I never really thought about it that way, that's all," answered Sam.

"That's because I appear to be the only one of the world, Hell, and Heaven-reclaimed Winchesters who has any common sense whatsoever," aid Hope, cocking a grin. "You should have seen me in this third-grade debate about whether or not eating one's snot turned one green. I ended it by eating some and not turning green. My audience was both impressed and revolted."

"That's just gross, Hopie," said Dean.

"Ah, third-grade me thought it was a good way to stop anyone deciding to steal someone's cookie or whatever. It worked, to be fair. Anyway, are you or are you not leaving? 'Cause if you do, I'll be wanting a lift to Bobby's."

Her stomach twisted a little from apprehension, but Sam shrugged and answered "Okay. But if I screw anything else up, I'm leaving."

"Trust me," Hope replied softly. "You've yet to screw anything up too badly so far."

And, of course, the Fates conspired to get Emma to decide to I-M her right that minute.

00000

"Chiron's doing _what_? Styx, Emma, do you understand what this means? Not only do the Olympians not _like _us, they now don't even trust us not to run off and join the damn Titans! Oh, the idiots, they're only going to make it worse!"

Thunder boomed in the sky and Hope yelled "I'm sure you have better stuff to be doing than threatening someone you can't kill!"

"Hope, you realise they really can kill you, right?" Emma said.

"They wouldn't dare. Look, I've kinda got stuff going on. I'll be there tomorrow. Emma, we need to keep everyone, uh, not homicidal. Tell Chiron screw his census or whatever. Also, remind him of this basic fact of psychology: Nobody likes to be oppressed. I gotta go. See you."

She cut through the Iris-message with one hand and groaned. "Well, gods are idiots, Chiron's worse, and I need to go to camp before this starts a damn riot."

"What's up at your camp?" Dean asked.

"Remember me talking about Kronos rising? Anyway, he's trying to get minor demigods to join him. Well, minor and unclaimed kids. The rejects of the Hermes cabin, I call us. So Chiron decided he needed to keep tabs on us and he's making some kind of list, which is going to fuel everyone's anger even more than the whole thing about how nobody remembers our parents or indeed, in some people's cases, that our parents don't remember us!" Blurted Hope.

"Want a lift?"

000000

Hope was, for once, listened to. She organized all the Hermes cabin rejects, asking them to go to the campfire and just listen, along with the Olympian cabins' counsellors.

"Okay! Okay. I'm Hope Winchester, I'm a child of Melinoe, and I get it, guys, I do. The Olympians are selfish bastards, end of story," Here she paused, waiting for the thunder to subside and the cries of outrage and agreement to quiet. "They disrespect our parents, they forget their own children. That's wrong, right? Yeah, that's a crime against the Hermes cabin rejects. Oh, yeah," Now she addressed the counsellors. "We're minor and unclaimed, not stupid. We're fully aware you don't want us. Right, guys?"

Cries of assent filled the clearing. The counsellors were reaching for weapons and looking slightly nervous by this point.

"We're demigods, though. We may be the Hermes cabin rejects, but Emma Carlisle, child of Tyche, is the best damn swordfighter I've ever met. Andrew Desser may be unclaimed, but he can use a spear with the best of 'em. I myself am a lot more than you'd like to think. My point is, we're all demigods, guys. My other point is less romantic, and that's that Kronos will massacre all his half-blood soldiers the second he's done with them, and say what you will, but I have yet to see Percy Jackson murder anyone. I ain't saying we should follow him because he's Poseidon's kid, I'm saying we should because he's better than Kronos."

Said Percy Jackson smiled, and called out "I'm not planning to kill anyone!"

Hope, who at least equalled him in predestined-ness and importance, cocked a grin and yelled "The Hermes cabin rejects will not be oppressed, and we are worthy of your trust!"

A roar of agreement followed, and the child of Melinoe breathed a sigh of relief.

00000

As people left, Percy Jackson walked over to Hope Winchester, and said "Thanks, kid."

To which she winked and answered "No problem, boss. Tell Chiron I sorted his problem. Make sure to say Hope Winchester. Zeus knows I don't need him to hate me any more than he already does."

"Why would Chiron hate you?"

"Not all of us are big heroes, Mr. Jackson. Some of us are a little more… unconventional."

And so it was that Hope Mary Winchester, pantheon hopper, hunter, half-blood, damn good at what she did, thank you very much, single-handedly stopped a rebellion in Camp Half-Blood and became one of the behind-the-scenes heroes of the Second Titan War, just because she'd read a psychology book once.

And maybe nobody ever mentioned the near rebellion again, but that was because a twelve-year-old managed to defuse it with ten minutes and a talent for improv.

0000000

Short, I know, but I thought it was good. I always wondered why the unclaimed and minor demigods never just said no and ran off. I know some did, but I thought it was weird. Here's your answer!

This also marks my first major deviance from canon… EEK! IMMA SCARED!

But never fear, my vague outline for the next few chapters is here!

That really doesn't fill me with confidence.

Also, I realised I forgot a disclaimer, so that's at the top.

-threelittleclouds


	8. Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven

It was Hope who found it. It was Hope who found it, buried in a book of mostly inaccurate facts about "those who leap between the pantheons".

"Guys, please tell me this is just the dyslexia acting up again."

Sam peered over her shoulder. "The Soldiers of God will one day create a leaper of pantheons for the express purpose of holding those angels who cannot find vessels."

"The one time I read something right, there's like a 99 percent chance it's about me," she muttered.

"It does make sense. You're half goddess. That has to count for something."

"Yeah, and I'm you and Dean's half-sister. How much do you want to bet that's not a coincidence?"

She bit her lip. "So, what, all the angels' vessels are either possessed or die and the rest of them just kinda share me? How the hell would that even work? Like, would one have control of one leg and another one my arm or something?"

"Actually, they'd probably give one control of your body. Whoever was most superior, I suppose."

Hope swirled round, open hoodie flapping. "Cas!"

"Vessel of All Angels. I should have remembered."

"Sorry?"

"It's what you are. The Vessel of All Angels," he answered.

"Catchy. I should make posters," she muttered.

"What do you mean, remembered?" Sam interrupted.

He looked perplexed. "Old rumours. It was a very long time ago, I presume when the Plan was first revealed to my old superiors. A Vessel of All, a pantheon hopper. I must say, I never thought you'd be a twelve-year-old girl."

"Well, according to this," Sam held up the book. "The rumours were true. I guess it runs in the family."

Hope shrugged. "It don't matter. I'd still have to say yes, and that's not happening. I mean, I think I've proven by now that I'm not a total idiot."

000000

Chiron was, as per the norm when dealing with a certain pantheon hopper, livid.

Cas actually looked a little nervous.

Hope rolled her eyes. "Okay, gentlemen, you've had your whole thing about who is in charge of what I do, and may I just say that only one person controls my actions and she goes by Hope Mary Winchester, not Castiel or Chiron."

"He's an angel!" Chiron stated.

Hope rolled her eyes again. "Yes, and you're a centaur. Your point?"

"He shouldn't be here! You, Hope, are only permitted inside this camp as a half-blood, and that is tenuous-"

Here she interrupted with a mutter of "Actually, I'm pretty sure God decided I would end up here," but Chiron continued "You realise I can banish you?"

"You realise that then you'd have a full-scale rebellion on your hands, which is basically the third worst thing that could theoretically happen really, really soon? Third only to the Apocalypse, which I am dealing with using my usual style and verve, not to mention a repertoire of plans which are admittedly slightly unrealistic, and the goddamn Titans deciding to go all mightier-than-thou on Olympus and blasting us all to freaking smithereens? Holy everything, are you a goddamn idiot? Just because you don't freaking enjoy my scintillating company, does not mean you can just wreck the entire camp when the rejects, myself possibly included, decide they've had enough?"

She slammed her hands on the desk, careful to avoid a repeat of the Desk Incident of the summer of '09, a frankly humiliating incident that will never be recorded, and continued "And what then? There are fifty of them, and anger can make people fight twice as well. No Hope Winchester to calm them down, Emma Carlisle most likely at their head… You wouldn't stand a chance. Emma's angry, Chiron. She's been angry all her life and she's yet to catch a break, and she is the best swordfighter I have ever fought. So go ahead. Banish me. Believe me, though, it won't do you any good."

The whole thing was delivered in Hope's most acidic, coldly furious tone, one that had last been broken out when… Nope. She'd never actually used it before. Then again, it took a lot to get her this angry.

And, as she had always enjoyed having the last word, Hope turned around and strode outside.

00000

Aidan Cartwright of the Apollo cabin was the only person to notice her running into the woods. Being as he was a responsible almost-thirteen-year-old demigod, he followed her to make sure none of the monsters in there decided they wanted a taste.

He stopped short when he saw her. She'd scaled a tree, and was sitting there, apparently making a valiant effort not to start yelling or sobbing.

That wasn't why he stopped, though. Aidan stopped because he'd noticed a hellhound slinking between the trees. He could see that she was armed with a sword, but she didn't appear to have noticed. Sure, she was up a tree, but hellhounds, he knew, could jump like no tomorrow and they were huge, anyway.

He reached for his bow, pulling it off his shoulder, and extracted a Celestial Bronze-tipped arrow. He carefully placed the arrow on the string of the bow, and pulled back. Now all he had to do was get a good shot.

Aidan was good at archery, sure, but he wasn't brilliant like, say, Michael Yew. He was good as in if he had a clear shot he wouldn't miss but he couldn't perform miracles.

He heard the hellhound growl, and saw Hope's head fly up and her hand grasp the hilt of her sword.

The son of Apollo crept towards the daughter of Melinoe, reasoning that two on one would be better than hoping the hellhound would come for him first.

He wasn't quite fast enough. The hellhound suddenly leapt out from the surrounding trees, and he was Hope draw her sword, overbalance, and fall to the ground. Right in front of the hellhound. She moved like quicksilver, rolling to her feet and leaping away from the monster.

Throwing caution to the winds, he yelled "Over here, you overgrown Chihuahua!"

Maybe not his best insult, but the hellhound evidently smelled Olympian, made the executive decision that the lanky Underworld kid was less of a big deal and turned.

Aidan shot it right between the eyes, and it dissolved into dust.

"I could have managed that fine alone!" It was the girl. Aidan vaguely remembered her from capture-the-flag games, but her name escaped him.

"Sure you could. Aidan Cartwright. Son of Apollo, and apparently also your new knight in sometimes literal shining armour."

She replied with "Hope Winchester. Daughter of Melinoe, and most definitely not your damsel in distress. Although, I am both female and occasionally in distress, but I can handle it just fine, thank you very much."

"Oh, so you're thanking me for saving you?"

She finally smiled. "Okay, whatever. Thank you for shooting the damn hellhound. I owe you one. You ever get attacked, I might save your ass."

"Might?"

"Maybe," she answered. "Depends what mood I'm in."

The conch horn sounded for lunch. "Want me to walk you? Seeing as how you're so delicate and all."

"I will literally stab you!"

The conversation continued in this vein until they reached the dining pavilion. "See you later?" Hope asked and he nodded. "See you."

000000

Okay, so this chapter was kinda random and stuff, but it brings in an important plot point and a new character, so I like it well enough.

-threelittleclouds


	9. Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight

"Where'd I screw up?" The angel asked.

Sam replied that he hadn't, to which Hope muttered "Speak for yourself."

She was ignored. Apparently by this point her brothers had figured out she never, ever took anything at face value.

Dean waxed poetic about how you only got that angry if you were talking about your own family. Hope might have protested, but she couldn't be bothered.

"So, which one are you? Grumpy, Sneezy or Douchey?" Sam demanded. Hope's ears pricked up.

"Gabriel, okay? They call me Gabriel."

Damn. She hadn't worked that out. Maybe sometimes asking did actually work.

"Gabriel? The archangel?" Sam inquired.

Hope cut in with "You know any others?" She got glared at.

"Guilty," said the archangel. He looked kinda resigned, thought Hope. He looked kinda like she felt, a lot of the time.

"Okay, Gabriel. How does an archangel become a trickster?" Dean asked Gabriel.

"My own, private, witness protection," he answered. Hope sort of liked him, to be honest.

"I skipped out of Heaven, had a face transplant, carved out my own little corner of the world… till you three screwed it all up."

"In my defense, you kidnapped me! I know a pagan god when I see one, okay? Not my fault you blew your cover," Hope told him.

She was starting to wonder whether it was International Ignore Hope Winchester Day.

"And what did Daddy say when you ran off and joined the pagans?"

Hope snorted "From what I've either guessed or heard, nothing."

"She's right," Gabriel said.

"Then what happened? Why'd you ditch?" Sam interrupted.

"Well, do you blame him? I mean, his brothers are heavyweight douche-nozzles."

Hope sucked in a breath. She could see where this was going.

"Shut your cake-hole," Gabriel spat.

Yep, she was right.

"You don't know anything about my family."

This was going to escalate, Hope could tell. She started talking. "All right, all right! Dean, you of all people should probably have figured out that was a bad idea. I mean, jeez, you're worse than Dad when it comes to family."

She looked at Gabriel in the ring of holy fire "He didn't mean anything. Except, of course, the only thing stopping them from blowing up the world because one of them decided he didn't want to do what God said like a million years ago is us, and, no offense to anyone, that's going to be literal overkill. I mean, Zeus, can't they talk it out like civilized people?"

"You obviously haven't met my brothers."

"I've yet to have that honour, admittedly."

Apparently her share of the conversation was now over.

Gabriel turned back to Sam and Dean "You should know what it's like."

Hope's mental gears started whirring. Her brothers, who had never really understood subtext, bless them, juts looked vaguely confused.

"Oh. Oh, that is beautiful. That is poetry, that is. That is just... I mean, wow. I hate the lot of you, except Cas, but I gotta hand it to you, you're not half bad at a nice plan. I'm right, aren't I? I do understand?"

"How would I know?" Gabriel answered.

She waved her hands excitedly "It's all about the parallels, isn't it? I mean, I struggled through all Chuck's books - what? It was research! - And you're kinda similar to Michael and Lucifer. I'm not saying you're evil, but you were all 'Dad is fricking awesome and you basically had a huge grudge against him" She flapped at Dean and then Sam. "I, personally, do not in any way resemble the vast majority of angels I have met, but that's not the point, is it, Gabriel? Not to mention the fact I've spent the past five minutes sympathising with you, which is about as much of a coincidence as my life thus far."

Sam and Dean gazed at her in mild astonishment. "What?" She demanded. "Just 'cause you've never heard me figure something out, doesn't mean it doesn't happen."

"Somebody give the lady a prize!" Gabriel suddenly cried.

Hope bowed dramatically, slightly to the astonishment of the two older Winchesters.

"All right, Sammy, Hope, we're leaving," Dean announced.

Hope straightened up and walked over to the fire alarm next to the door. "I'm gonna let you out because I like you," she said, and pulled the lever, drenching the fire.

Then she walked out, followed by Sam and Dean.

00000

In the Impala, Sam asked "How did you do that?"

"I don't really know. I've done it all my life, starting with which of my second-grade comrades had filled my shoes with mud. Jamie Keller, if anyone's interested. God, that kid was an ass. It wasn't much of a leap, but I kept doing it. I figure that everything's part of the same puzzle, and nothing's really a coincidence, you know? Not in my experience, anyway. I see the little inconsistencies, the connections between events. I really can't help it."

"So, we call you Sherlock now, or what?" Dean barked, somewhat grumpily.

Hope sighed "No. In fact, I am going to sleep now and if I start screaming about makeover shows, you can go ahead and wake me up."

Five minutes later, she was sound asleep.

"Hope, man," said Dean.

Sam considered the gangly sleeping form of his half-sister. "She tries, Dean."

"I know, Sam, but she's twelve. She should be at school, not hunting and fighting wars."

"Would you rather she ran off and did it on her own? This is her fight, Dean, and her Titan War is her fight, too. This is what we do."

Dean sighed. Hope was complicated, it was true, but she was a good person if not a particularly nice one, and she deserved better than them. She deserved a home, a family other than two half-brothers who didn't really know what to do with her.

00000

Hope didn't dream of makeover shows that night. No, this was far worse.

Lucifer stood before her, possessing Sam, and Michael, possessing Dean.

And all she could hear were pounding shouts of "Let us in! Let us in!"

And all she could say was "No!"

00000000

Okay, I know, it's been too long. I hate writer's block, I really do. I started this chapter over like three times, and it's still way shorter that I would have liked it to be, but I needed something to post.

Also, I would really love a review! It's been a while and I want to know if I'm getting better or worse and what you think of the story. I don't know how much I'll be writing over the weekend, because I have an essay to write for Thursday and not much time during the week, but I'll try.

-threelittleclouds


	10. Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine

Hope hadn't slept in three days.

The second she closed her eyes, all she could hear was angels yelling, which wasn't exactly the most relaxing of lullabies.

In fact, it was Hell. She knew perfectly well what their tactic was, too: sleep deprivation is one of the most effective tortures there is, and Hope's life was full of running and fighting and she was always tired anyway.

It wasn't for nothing, however, that she'd been described as 'stubborn as a mule'. She wasn't going to give them the satisfaction of yes.

She took a gulp of coffee "Sorry, what?"

Emma looked concerned "Hope, are you okay? You look exhausted."

"Yeah, I'm fine. Anyway, what did you say?"

Aidan coughed "I said that Percy Jackson and Beckendorf are going to blow up the _Princess Andromeda _today. The war's really starting."

Hope's war had started a while ago, but she nodded "Yeah. Hopefully they'll manage it."

"You kidding me? Of course they will. It's Percy Jackson and Beckendorf, Hope," Aidan said.

Hope smiled grimly "If skill alone won wars, then, yes, they'd be fine. Trust me, though, it doesn't."

Emma, who knew exactly what she was talking about, smiled sympathetically. Aidan just shrugged.

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And, of course, Hope ended up right, which was terrible. Beckendorf had been awesome.

Sadly, Emma had more immediate issues right then. Hope's determined refusal to sleep was scaring her. Emma knew how bad it had to be to refuse to sleep. She'd experienced it herself.

"No more coffee, Hope. That's, what, your fifth today? It's barely half ten. You have to sleep."

Hope's tired-no, this wasn't tired, this was absolutely exhausted- eyes blinked at her. "I can't."

"Tell me," Emma said. "Hope, whatever's bothering you, just tell me."

"I can't, though, Emma. I can't tell anyone all of it, because I'm stuck in this weird limbo between two wars that never end and nobody else could possibly understand that. You've never met an angel, you've never seen your brother accidentally kick-start the end of the world, which was only a little bit his fault, by the way. You don't get it."

Emma mentally rolled her eyes. Sure, she didn't know much about angels or demons, but she understood pain. "Hope Mary Winchester, don't make me go to Chiron."

"Oh, come on, Em, that's called unnecessary cruelty. All right, I guess I'll start at the beginning," she paused "Do you want the absolute beginning, as in my pre-planned life thus far, or just what's stopping me from sleeping?"

Emma shrugged "It'd be nice to be the most mysterious figure in this friendship again."

"Right. So, once upon a time, there was this archangel who threw a hissy fit because he didn't want to bow to humans. Basically, he thought we didn't deserve his awesomeness or something. So God ordered that said archangel be tossed into Hell by another archangel, whose name is Michael. The first one is Lucifer, if anyone's interested. So Mike did it, and all was well until last year when my brother Dean went to Hell and accidentally broke the first seal to get Lucifer out of Hell."

"Let me guess, Dean breaking the seal set off a nasty chain of events?"

"Somebody give the lady a prize! The demons realised that their boss Lucifer could be let out of his cage and started breaking seals like nobody's business. But, see, we all thought that only this powerful demon called Lilith could break the last seal, which was technically true, and my other brother Sam got into drinking demon blood, which I have to say was disturbing, because only the powers the demon blood gave him could ice Lilith. Enter Ruby the evil demon, who pretended she didn't want to let Lucifer out-"

"But actually did!"

"Yep. See, the last seal was actually Lilith dying, and she manipulated Sam into killing her, which let Lucifer out. Meanwhile, me and Dean got kidnapped by angels, who actually wanted Lucifer to bust out so he could have this big fight with Michael that's going to kill everyone. Anyway, Lucifer got out, and it turns out that Dean's Michael's vessel, which means that he's the dude Michael wants to possess while they have this fight. And because we all love parallels over here with the ol' Judeo-Christians, Sam's Lucifer's vessel."

Emma tipped her head to one side "I'm going to assume this runs in families?"

"Oh, yeah. Me? I'm the Vessel of All Angels, which means I get to be possessed by a whole bunch of 'em. And they're getting whiny and yelling into my head twenty-four/seven, and so I can't sleep."

"Ah. Yeah… I can see how that could be bad."

Hope rolled her eyes "They act like they're so all-powerful, but really they're just a load of babies who think they're better than everyone else."

Emma snorted "What you're saying is that I could hang out with the vast majority of the Aphrodite cabin and it'd be the same as Heaven?"

"Basically. Only the really shallow ones, though. Silena's all right, and that girl Lacy."

"Mm. You got any strategies to shut 'em up?"

Hope ran her hand though her hair "I could kill them all, but that would take a while."

"Murder, Hope? That's your answer? Why am I even friends with you?"

"I'm the only person everyone's more creeped out by than you?"

Emma shrugged "You make an excellent point."

"Yeah… I mean, we are the outcasts of the outcasts," Hope mused.

"Even the outcasts are weirded out by us."

Hope looked pensive "You think it's all the salt?"

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That was the night Heaven had something better to do than harass a Winchester, and Hope slept for twelve straight hours, which was the equivalent of three days for a girl who'd been hunting her whole life.

And, yeah, it was awesome.

That was the night Emma lay on her sleeping bag, grinned at the ceiling, and wondered what her life would have been like had she not been as good a swordfighter as she was, consequently never beating Hope, consequently remaining Emma the shy kid forever.

That was the night Aidan started to realise there was something a little strange about the girl whose life he'd saved, decided it didn't really matter, and went to sleep.

That was a good night.

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I have been writing this chapter an entire week and I'm sorry it's mostly dialogue, but, come on, I love Emma so much. She needed a chapter.

-threelittleclouds


	11. Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten

So, Hope was paying a visit to the seventies. 1978, to be exact. And all because her brother was the vessel of Satan.

Yeah, it was a strange life she led. However, with a crazy angel trying to murder her father and Sam and Dean's mother, all so as Satan couldn't use Sam as a vessel. Literal overkill, in Hope's opinion.

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Typically of the world-, Heaven-, Olympus- and Hell-renowned Winchester bad luck, they managed to land right in the middle of the road.

Car horns blared, and all three of them scrambled to the edge of the street, between two cars.

"Did we make it?" Sam gasped.

"Unless they're bringing Pintos back into production, I, uh, I'd say yes," replied Dean.

Then they noticed Cas collapsed against a car. He promptly fell unconscious, blood dribbling out of his mouth.

Hey, at least he got the honeymoon suite.

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Yeah, this was Creepy with a capital C. Hope remembered Dean telling them about his trip to the past, and had kinda enjoyed the irony of the fact that Mary Winchester had been a hunter.

Seeing the actual woman in the flesh was eerie, though.

"Hi, Mary," Dean started, and was met with a cheery (or, like, not) "You can't be here."

"I'm sorry if this is a bad time."

Mary sounded almost scared "You don't understand. I'm not..."- Here she paused to stare at Sam, who was gawking. To be fair, Hope had gawked a little the first time she'd met her mother, too, which had been a fascinating story involving a lot of ghosts, unnerved half-brothers and this whole long argument , as it turned out Hope had inherited her love of loud debates.

Anyway, the sentence was completed with "I don't do that anymore."

And then "I have a normal life now. You have to go."

"I'm sorry, but this is important, okay?" Dean protested, and then Hope took an uneasy step back, because, lo and behold, her father had turned up.

Mary turned to her husband and said "I'm sorry, sweetie, they're just…"

Dean, clearly making this all up on the spot, said "Mary's cousins! Yeah, we couldn't stop through town without swinging by and saying "Hey," now, could we?"

He introduced himself to their father (which was creepy as all Hell) and John-Hope wasn't calling him Dad-told him he looked familiar. Dean feigned ignorance and then claimed they must have met 'sometime'.

Now, of course, Sam looked like he was crying, so Hope decided to distract them with an "I'm Hope, by the way."

Mary glared at Dean like _You take the kid on hunts? _Hope resisted the urge to say that she was there of her own free will, thank you very much, Mrs Mary I'm-so-pathetic-I-died-on-a-freaking-ceiling Winchester.

There was some waffling about family names, of which Hope possessed only Mary as a middle name-and wasn't that ironic in at least two separate ways.

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Sam kept staring at Mary all teary-eyed, causing Hope to jab him in the ribs and hiss "Quit ogling her, dude!" which got her more teary staring.

It basically got even more awkward when he told Mary she was beautiful, a comment Dean had to salvage with some crap about healthy family ogling and complimenting.

Hope was getting more and more uncomfortable, but then, thank Melinoe, John got a phone call and the real conversation got under way.

The gist of it was that Mary did not like the sudden reappearance of the dude who was there when her parents bit it. Hope saw her point. They were told to leave her alone, et cetera, and finally Sam got to the point.

"You and John are in danger," he said, and that got more than remonstrance.

"What are you talking about?" Mary asked in a low voice.

Dean started to talk, but Hope interrupted "Well, basically, you got your standard revenge-bent freak a-coming to splatter you on the walls."

Needless to say, this blunt statement got shock from the blonde woman, glares from her brothers, and a raised eyebrow off Hope.

"A demon?" Mary demanded, and Dean made some feeble "It's hard to explain," excuse, but Sam got right in there, with the words "An angel."

For once, it was Hope doing the why-did-you-say-that glaring. Mary was just incredulous.

"What? There's no such thing."

"I wish,' Dean said, to which Hope added "Don't we all," and he continued with "But they're twice as strong as demons… and bigger dicks."

"Why would an angel want to kill us?"

"Oh, countless reasons," Hope muttered.

"It's a long story and we'll tell you everything, but right now, you've got to trust us, and we got to go."

Mary looked hesitant, but Dean continued "Look at my face and tell me if I'm lying to you."

Apparently Dean's facial expression was enough as she agreed.

Typically of the aforementioned Winchester bad luck, of course, John wasn't in the hallway.

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So, Hope was later informed that there was this whole epic fight, with, like, broken wind shields and people getting tossed about, but she got left in the car, with instructions to come in only if they weren't back in ten minutes.

She spent the time grumbling to herself about age discrimination.

Just before she was going to go in, they got back.

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"Monsters? Monsters?"

Hope was almost smiling by this point. Her dad, asking about monsters.

"Yes," Mary sounded… was that guilty or exasperated? Possibly both, Hope thought.

"Monsters are real."

Hope leaned against the window until she felt it was her cue.

"How long?" John demanded, and she knew he was talking to Mary, but she couldn't resist the soft "Forever and probably always," that slipped out of her mouth.

A little marital dispute, some empty threats about turning the car around-which sounded awfully familiar and brought back memories of praying he would, praying that she could just go home to Sioux Falls-and Dean broke the uncomfortable silence with "Wow. Awkward family road trip," which got Hope to snort and Sam to mutter "No kidding."

And they got to this frick-awesome hunter hideout that had, according to Mary, been in the Campbell family for years. Probably not as long as the Underworld had been in hers, though.

When she realised they were talking about what would stop an angel, she chimed in with "You got your angel blades, they're the only thing that'll actually kill them, you got your sigils, like Sam did, that'll banish them, you got your holy oil, and you got your blind luck. Dean's got it all in the bag, but blind luck isn't really in stock round us."

Hope stayed with Dean and her father-not that he knew or would ever care-while Sam and Mary went off to set up rings of holy oil.

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I know I stopped like mid-episode, and that can't even be called an approximation of a cliff-hanger, but her, at least I'm updating, right?

-threelittleclouds


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